Park East Corridor

Milwaukee is one of very few cities in the country to demolish a freeway to connect neighborhoods and open valuable land for development. The land was once the Park East Freeway, a mile-long spur that was built as part of a larger plan to encircle the downtown business district with expressways.

After demolition of the elevated freeway spur in 1999, it was replaced with an at-grade, six-lane boulevard – McKinley Boulevard — that is fully connected with the existing and newly re-created street grid. The Park East Corridor consists of over 60 acres, 24 of which are prime sites for redevelopment. The properties are located within Milwaukee's downtown, in close proximity to the Milwaukee River. Milwaukee County owns 16 acres and is currently selling their properties through a Request for Proposal (RFP) process.

Interested in Park East development? Check out parkeastmke.com to answer all your development questions.

Project Updates

New Park East Marketing Plan Unveiled

In a collaborative effort between Milwaukee County and the City of Milwaukee, a new website, ParkEastMKE.com was recently unveiled on June 10th as a way to market the available real estate within the Park East Corridor. The County and the City joined forces with the Commercial Association of Realtors Wisconsin (CARW) to create the website and additional marketing materials to get businesses and investors interested in the corridor and all its potential. While there is no set plan for the available properties, officials are open to anything from retail to commercial to office development given the amount of activity in the surrounding area. It is the hope that this website will clear up any confusion regarding the development process and help to reveal the amazing opportunities within the Corridor.

The Moderne opens

As of late spring 2013, construction is complete and The Moderne's 203 apartment units and 14 condominium units are now available! Located on the corner of Old World Third Street and Juneau Avenue, this 30-sotry, $54 million tower serves as the anchor to the Park East Corridor on the west-side of the Milwaukee River. Carson's Prime Steaks opened in June 2013 and occupies the building's first floor commercial space. For more information, visit www.themoderne.net

The North End - Phase II complete

The Park East's gateway to the north has been visibly transformed with the completion of the Flatiron as well as the first two phases of the North End development project. In addition to a Riverwalk extension, the project includes the construction of Denim Park, the Park East's newest public plaza and the placement of the Water Tower. This historic 44,000 pound structure once served the former Pfister & Vogel tannery, which occupied the North End's seven acre development site along N Water Street & its preservation marks the new development rising from the tannery site. For more information on the North End's three apartment buildings, visit: www.mandelgroup.com

MSOE soccer field & parking structure

MSOE's new soccer stadium, which opened in late August 2013, was completed just in time to kick-off their team's fall season. The stadium sits on top of a 382 stall parking structure and abuts a public park just to the north, located along Water Street.

Avenir breaks ground

Excavation for the first phase of the Park East's newest project began on October 7, 2013. Once complete, The Avenir, developed by Wangard, will occupy the entire 3-acre block bordered by North Milwaukee, North Jefferson & East Lyon Streets and East Ogden Avenue. The project's first phase will be 102 apartments, 6,500 square feet of commercial space and a parking structure. With an anticipated construction cost of $22 million, you can expect completion by September of 2014.